Mating Wood Nymphs

Bug Love Hi Bugman, I again viewed your Bug Love postings and did not see these guys whom I believe to be Large Wood Nymph butterflies. Photo from central WI. May 2008 bring you unimaginable riches, Dwaine

Hi Dwaine, Until now, Wood Nymphs, mating or otherwise, have been sadly under-represented on our site. Wood Nymphs, which are also known as Satyrs, are in the subfamily Satyrinae. They are feeble flyer that are found in wooded areas and they rarely visit flowers. Your image is probably of the Common Wood Nymph, Cercyonis pegala. Jeffrey Glassberg in his book Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West, writes that the Common Wood Nymph “comes in two basic color forms, each with many variations.”